When Gods Kill [Saint. Caranore, Hugh, Aaron]

Age : 32 Posts : 787

Place him here sir

The nurse pointed to the only empty bed in the room, as though he couldnt figure it out on his own. The bed was the only obvious place, but alas, he simply ignored the light and unintended insult to his intelligence and did as he was instructed, gingerly laying the boy across the folds of the white sheets. He stood up right, coming out of his hunched position and looked upon the length of his body. Quite a fine young man he had turned into based on what he could see so far, aside from the gaping wound in his stomach area at the current point in time. The nurse came and half motioned, half pushed him to the side. This woman obviously want the cheerful type. Taku couldnt complain. He wasnt a grouch, but he didnt exactly give off the aura of sunshine daises and rainbows either. He allowed the woman to do her prep work and moved to the window in the room at the foot of the bed, choosing to stand by the chair rather then sitting on it.

He stared out of the cold sand hut across the urbanized landscape before him that he had longed to see again for five painful years. It had broken his heart to leave the village to deal with Howl's lunatic procedures and policy with out him to serve as its self imposed father figure, but being a father figure to the one he was actually intended to was more important by far. It just so happened had he waited, he could have done both with much less hassle. Had he not had such control over his composure, a tear of relief would have formed at the corner of his eye, however, he was much to disciplined for that and his face remained stoic, almost emotionless but not dead stone. The impossible to read black death of the desert.

He bowed his head in dissapointment as he felt the chakra well up against his oniryouken not to far off. He had hoped this would wait till at least the boy was healed, or until he made certain the boy was fine and he could go take it else where, it was not his feeling that Ibuki needed to be a part of this. It was not to be, the Kazekage was already on his way to their room from his quarters in his mansion, and for Taku to move his position would have been cited as a running coward, even if he moved towards the sinister tyrant.

Howl, you best check yourself if you wish to confront me in the presence of my son.

He found it strange how much he cared for Ibuki only having just met him less then an hour ago and having not exchanged more then a few meager sentences. There had been no need for grand speeches. A battle between Sookato was teh best way to exchange information about how one felt and the type of person that man or woman was. In Taku's eyes, he had proven himself enough. He planned to increase on that later, as his blood urged him to do, but for now, the father took over and he only wished to make sure the kid was OK. He was not used to holding back or fighting with out intent to kill. He had never taken a genin team for that reason, it was too dangerous for the squad, and everyone knew it.

Ive finished the wrapping but the wound is not healed, the bleeding has only been slowed, the medic will be in shortly to take care of the rest.

Taku only smiled at her and nodded his appreciation as she walked out the door, closing it behind her. The man took the chair next to him and dragged it next to the bed, in line iwth his chest and torso regoin. He though he could feel him starting to come too. To test it he asked a question, sure that the chakra had fluctuated between just enough to keep him alive during sleep to active and keeping the body functioning in the awakened state of non sleep. Though he was concerned, not much seeped through here, his eyes held little signs of heart and the smile had disappeared from his lips. There was still a trace of it in his voice but it was barely there. He was simply, stoic as ever, the breeze that was to faint to read properly.

How do you feel.

Age : 28 Posts : 2538

Isamu was in the hospital on another one of his shifts. It was suprising how many people were injured and had to be taken to the hospital in Sunagakure no Sato. It wasn't just shinobi in battle and it wasn't just civilians from Sunagakure no Sato who were healed in the hospital. People from all walks of life, shinobi, civilians, tourists, all of them were healed in the closest hospital to them. It was not rare for Isamu to heal a shinobi not from Sunagakure no Sato, as often there were foreign shinobi in the village, on missions or other errands. During his time as a medic, Isamu had healed many people and today, he would add a few more people to that ever-growing list. Sat at the desk, waiting for his next call-in, the double-doors slammed open as a man was carrying a teenager in his arms. Isamu's body straightened up slightly, as he was the most experienced medic on call right now, so no matter what the injury was, he knew he would be called to fix it. As was customary, a nurse showed the man where to take the teen, wrapped up in his arms, into which room. She would temporarily help the victim, whilst Isamu prepared himself. The way the man's arms had curled around the teenager, it had looked like a paternal instinct. But tentative, fresh. Isamu knew like this injury, there was a story behind it. There was a story behind every injury. Watching as the nurse lead them into their room, Isamu slowly made his way over. By the time he had reached the door, the nurse had exited the room, closing the door behind her. She stopped to quickly brief Isamu of the situation, as was customary for nurses. "His condition is moderate, nothing you can't handle." She gave him an admiring wink with a sexual backstory, but as usual, Isamu showed no emotion. He had no interest in this woman, that way. Seeming slightly annoyed with her lack of progress with Isamu, the nurse continued. "It's not too deep, you should be able to heal it completely and have him back up on his feet in no time." Not even waiting for a response, she turned on her heel and walked away, but Isamu noticed her glance back to see his response, which was nothing.

Opening the door, Isamu caught the end of a sentence, leaving the father lips. "How do you feel?" Isamu knew he had entered at an inappopriate moment, but there was nothing he could do about it. He walked across the room, past the father and to the left hand side of the son, who was laying on the bed. There was a bandage wrapped securely around his stab wound, which was in his stomach area. The white bandage was stained with the son's ruby red blood. Isamu was only assuming the pair were father and son because of what he had seen, but he was confident that his assumption was correct, hence why he thought in such a manner. Isamu decided today he would not get in the way of the conversation the father blatantly wanted to have, so he just peeled back the bandage slowly, to reveal the wound, which was still dripping blood. Assuming again, that this wound had been retrieved from a battle, the wound could be dirty if it was inflicted with a kunai or any other kind of shinobi weapon, which would have dirt on the blade. Deciding to disinfect the wound, Isamu formed the handseals necessary and placed his hands over the wound. His hands glowed green as his chakra set to work on the eijutsu, which made a slight whirring noise in the background. It was quite quiet, so it would not interrupt the pair if they were trying to have a conversation. By his silence, Isamu had made it clear he wouldn't interrupt, but he was sure to listen. He knew he was being nosey, but he did want to know what the case was. Another reason would be, he wouldn't directly have to ask what was going on either, so this case of eavesdropping definately had it's advantages. Isamu kept his hands steady, knowing the jutsu would take a while to fully disinfect the wound before he could close it up.

Justu Used:

Spoiler:

Age : 35 Posts : 1492

Ibuki groaned as he came to, a warm feeling on him stomach in the general area where he was stabbed. Opening his eyes he stared up at the ceiling for a while, figuring out how to comment to his fathers response while trying to not get too dizzy. He had wasted quite a bit of chakra in that spar, and despite that he hadn’t managed to cause any serious damage. Well, there wasn’t supposed to be serious damage, but still, a little burning would have been gratifying.

“You stabbed me in the bloody stomach. How do you think I feel?” Ibuki muttered, well knowing that the medic could hear. Judging from his chakra capacity he was easily Jounin level, and the way he held himself signified he wasn’t a normal medic. Great, another active Jounin. It was common knowledge that Jounin that specialized as medics needed to go around and do hospital runs, but this was a bit much. Ibuki faintly remembered the mans face, but beyond that he was clueless. Disoriented was more like it, but that was his own fault.

”Geez, you couldn’t have stabbed me lighter? Or just knocked me out? Kami knows you have a lot more energy than I have right now. Freakin bastard…” Ibuki trailed off and coughed roughly, spitting up some blood. Using his hospital gown to wipe it off he groaned. He hadn’t done that for ages, and last time it was due to the same bloody injury. Thankfully it was healed by an actual medic, scars were just plain annoying to deal with. And as it seemed, this current medic was removing the sand and disinfecting the wound, which was actually quite helpful. Ibuki would be fine in a couple days, his metabolism and bodily chemistry was high enough to have a slightly faster healing rate.

Regardless, the plain white color of the ceiling was getting on his nerves. It felt like he was in lockdown, or in an insane asylum or something. Which actually he had been considered for that, as in being sent to one, but the Kazekage stepped in, and all eyes were of Ibuki. Kazekage-sama was more crazy than he was, and that was saying something. Rolling his shoulders slightly, he did a self assessment while the medic was busy. Disregarding the stab wound, he was just drained of chakra, which was a good sign.

“Oh! Youre Isamu,” Ibuki exclaimed, finally calming his dizzy and clouding mind long enough to recognize the Jounin. “Ugh… stupid chakra exhaustion… this is what I get for being a fighter geared towards armies, not individuals…” he muttered, closing his eyes and using a focusing technique to try and rid himself of the dizziness more. It wasn’t an actual jutsu, just something Ibuki used to get rid of headaches when he got them, it was actually based more along the lines of meditation, so it worked fine and wouldn’t disturb the medic while he healed him.

Age : 37 Posts : 1136

(OOC: My apologies about the delay in posting)

Howl exited the hidden side door and slid into to the hospital’s polish white atrium unnoticed before carefully slipping into a nearby gift booth. Some two minutes later he emerged holding on two a dozen or so animal shaped helium balloons in one hand and a sleeping white fur ball in the other. Now armed with everything he needed to move about undetected he sauntered off towards reception all the time wearing his trademark white coat with Mr Bigglesworth sleeping peacefully in the space left by his free arm. He wanted to keep his visit low key after all and avoid unwarranted eyes, at least at this stage. There remained a strong possibility the meeting might need to be covered up if things turned ugly and silencing witnesses was so incredibly tedious.

Many people would think that purchase of dozen helium balloons might only attract more attention to an already rather flamboyant individual but most people knew nothing about the art of disguise. The true skill to passing unremarked was not that you avoided being seen at all, but rather that you were seen yet instantly forgotten. While the helium’s balloons made him stand out like a thumb, careful positioning and avoiding eye contact meant that all eyes were on the balloons turning him into their totally unmemorable bearer. A week from know everyone in the room would remember the balloons and many would doubtless give some very accurate descriptions of their shapes and hews but he highly doubted even a single one would be able to recount what the balloon man looked like or if he even was a man.

So as not to draw undue attention to him self he queued for a while at reception, as if signing in and waited till all eyes had turned towards the latest emergency case coming through the main doors. He did not have to wait long before he could subtly dodge out of the queue and right passed the nose of the distracted guard. Getting onto the Nin wards, he thought to himself, was far too easy. He would need to assign more competent guards in the future if there showing so far was anything to go by.

As he walked on his mind soon changed from the present to the past. He and his current retinue of no less then 12 TSOKR operatives had reached the hospital, a little over 5 minutes travelling with unaccustomed speed down Suna’s infamous underground system. He could have gated of course but there was a certain dreary charm to the underground warren of tunnels that felt fitting given the task ahead. In any case had done too much of the former of late and over-reliance on any technique was a weakness he did not tolerate. Either was of course preferable to moving in broad daylight though, where such movements might be construed as worrying and spread alarm unnecessarily among those ill accustomed to seeing their enigmatic ruler dash about with 4 heavily armed squads of hunter nin. Even now the operatives moved into position, waiting for a signal he was not certain he was ready to give.

Taku, why have you returned? I was happy to pretend you were dead and you could have pretended to have some good sense and stayed away and none of this would have happened.

Now there was nothing for it. Many had already called for his head, to make a bloody example of former Jounin turned traitor. Howl was not so sure. Disappointed, irritated, damn infuriated, all these feelings and more he felt when thinking of the man but something was staying his hand. An untapped hope that perhaps matters might resolve them selves more amicably.

Old Howl, or rather howl of a decade ago, surrounded by lack lustre nin of questionable loyalties would have killed him in an instance. Simply put, Taku knew things no nin should, about him and worse still about his origins. He even know of his use of compulsion on his nin and citizen’s in violation of village law and possibly even the bevy of war crimes he had committed against those who stood against him. The current generation of Jounin were largely ignorant of how dark those first years were or what he had had to do to end the death grip of its former degenerate elite. Suna’s nin were dedicated now and true patriotic and there was no need to motivate them but back then there were so many who stood against him. Too many in truth, all who fought for clan before village and all needed to be dealt with. Taku was most likely aware of the clan’s that had been wiped out man, woman and child for defying the changes he sought to bring, needed to bring about. He may even know about the victims of compulsion so powerful that their minds never recovered. The first TSOKR were little more then mindless husks when he had finished with them, forced to turn on their own clan members and forge through blood and terror the Suna that existed today. Taku had even been a victim of serial compulsion. His innate value had saved him from more heavy handed forms that left nin mad or mindless. Should this fall into the hands of Suna’s enemies it could do irreparable damage to his had fought credibility or be used to potentially trap him, either was an entirely unacceptable state of affairs.

New Howl was different though. 10 years is a long time, even for man who had seen the centuries come and go like seasons. Suna had under gone a great transformation in a very short time and no longer needed him to force the world in line. He no longer needed to persuade people that fighting for Suna was honour in itself, the actually believe it too. Compulsion was almost complete unnecessary now and this had made him more open to new possibilities. Based on what accounts he could acquire of the battle in the desert and its aftermath there was some sort of connection between him and his son, some reason that bound him to him and caused him to stay longer then he must have intended. Taku was often recklessly brave or foolish as he liked to think but always knew better then to stay overlong where Howl could find him. That he stayed was already sign enough that a bond was there. If he could pin it down and find it, then he could bend it in shape and once more, whether willing or not, acquire Taku’s rather unique services. Prior to his flight he was intending to elevate him, had intended to use him as example of what Suna could produce. Though that dream had gone with his betrayal leaving behind it the bitter after taste of rejection, perhaps the nin was not entirely lost to him. If only he could be convinced to make the leap of faith.

From thoughts of Taku his mind turned to Ibuki. He wandered how the young Jounin was taking it all, wandering how much emotional strain he had been placed under. At first the insane ruler of Suna convinced himself that it was only his abilities he was concerned about. That he was merely worried he would not meet his responsibilities. That it did not matter him ultimately if suffered, that like all others he was simply a tool for the advancement of Suna as a whole. Yet he found himself oddly worrying about the young jounin on a level he found unsettling, almost on a paternal level. Many years of training boy in the sealing arts had implanted an abiding trust in him that went beyond simple master and student. In spite of all good sense it angered him that Taku had attacked Ibuki, angered them that he had injured him and even more so, angered him that he was reopening mental wounds that had long since scarred over. For a few moments he did little more then seethe, dark thoughts of doing terrible things to Taku welling within him but the moment soon passed and soon enough the morally questionable good nature lunatic surfaced once more.

He finished climbing the last flight of stairs to the correct ward, where he could feel their chakra flowing strong. Taku, Ibuki and another familiar signature that could only belong to Isamu permeated the air making the room relative simply to find. Was Isamu there merely out of coincidence or was there something more behind his presence. It seemed somewhat convenient that 3 highly rated Jounin be in the same hospital room at once. Paranoid he half wandered if they were hatching a conspiracy against him but quickly realised stupidity of this line of enquiry. The chances of Isamu and Ibuki individually turning against him were incredibly remote, for them to do it together, on the same day was so unlikely that even considering the possibility was insane. No, it must be a coincidence, Isamu was a medic after all and as such expected to work shifts at the hospital. He could trust Isamu, his exemplary service history to date was proof of that. He was a faithful adherent of the cause and one of his staunchest supporters. Isamu's presence far from problematic would be an added a bonus, adding more allies to his pool should the worst arise. Where Ibuki might hold back for obvious reasons,
Isamu was certain to strike on command.

As he turned into the final corridor and approached the door to the room he activated the tiny homing beacon and the com-bead in his right ear. The hunter nin themselves should have taken up position by now ready to react where appropriate and take Taku down. They now simply awaited his instruction to kill. The question was would the call be made or could something be worked out?

_________________________________________________

The door to room opened with an audible click and swung to reveal a mass of multicoloured helium balloons shading a man who face was as memorable as it was emotive. It took but a moment to recognise the man each knew so well, both personally and generally, be it from their meetings or the mere fact his likeness could be found splashed all over Suna’s coins and bank notes. It was face that inspired hope or dread depending on ones relationship to Suna and was now as, as ever, one of bemused interest, though expectedly lost in the pursuit of searching for traps. Where the Kazekage of Suangakure differed from other nin in this innate habit was the manner in which he searched. Most nin would simply scan the room subtly for danger, eager to hide their activity and come across as odd and mysterious. Howl preferred the 10 year old sugar addict on a treasure hunt approach to searching, his eyes straining with all the enthusiasm of boar on heat. After prancing about the place a bit in a vaguely comical fashion he came to the conclusion that perhaps Taku had not laid ambush after all.

He did learn one thing though. Given the tense emotional tinge hanging in the air, he must have interrupted a father son discussion of sorts. As he realised this fact he inwardly smiled, ever more certain that things could be worked in his favour. That said, he would not, could not let such discourse continue, no, no, no, such privileges need to be earned. If Taku wanted to speak to his son he would need to pay the price and with that he started part one of his plan.

He beamed as though the rogue nin he might ordinarily kill on sight was not there as he trotted across the room and casually worked his way over towards Isamu’s side of the bed, his pace casual as if nothing were amiss. It almost as if he could not see Taku. As if he were a figment of his imagination. This was plainly not true which meant the Kazekage had chosen to deliberately ignore him. His attention appeared entirely focused on the other two nin. He wanted Taku to know he was not forgiven, that as the moment he was nothing, less then nothing. He would have an opportunity to prove himself if he wanted but for now he could wait:

“Mr dear Ibuki, what on earth have you being doing to yourself? I have heard reports you been tussling with a fool and managed to get yourself hurt. It’s clear I have not given you enough training. That or you were simply confundled by the jubjub bird”

Ignoring any stairs of incredulity he continued unabated:

“I heard it was flying in those parts using its song to cause a number of people believe they were goats. I have not experienced goat like thoughts myself of course, beaver ones yes ... much to the detriment of my last desk, but never goat ones. That said I am certain that they would have been rather distracting in an encounter such as yours”

“Well moving on I have come to wish you a swift recovery and I have even brought you balloons. I am afraid the were a pair of mouse shaped ones too but silly Mr Bigglesworth here got a little confused and tried to eat them while I was ascending the stairs. He’s been grumpy ever since, haven’t you?”

At this point his attention momentarily turned to the Cat which throughout the conversation had not once taken its eyes off taku and was looking somewhat agitated. Though whether that was balloons or something deeper was not clear.

“Whose daddie’s little grumpy puss, you are, you are”,

said the kage, in a ridiculous soppy voice. As he did so he handed over the balloons to the wounded Ibuki before bending over the bed to check the cut in his chest. All the while Mr Bigglesworth continued to stare at Taku unabated. Few could have guessed that through his emphatic bond the Kage did not let the rogue jounin out of his sight even once, even as turned to speak to others he was in truth alert and ever ready.

“It appears you have been leaking something… what’s the red stuff called again .. ahh yes blood. How jolly inconvenient”

Turning to take in Isamu, his smile only deepened

“A good thing this charming individual appears to be …. Wait a second is that Isamu? Dear me so it as. What luck”

In the manner of a man introducing one friend to another he continued:

“How very lucky you are Ibuki-san, Isamu here is somewhat of a medical prodigy, almost as good as our Kakougan. Deft little fingers he has there, capable of stitching all manner of things right back up and so very dedicated. I still remember when he performed his first major reconstructive surgery, an excellent job, perfect really if you discount the fact he had attached the right hand to left arm but anyone could made that mistake, barely worth noting. Even so it might be best to check you hands after he its all said and done just in case”

He could not help but smile as teased the young medical Jounin before favouring them noth with a warm almost paternal smile, his voice rich and kind:

“It is delight to see you both despite the poor circumstances, an utter delight, I only wish I could have come sooner and provide a moments sympathy”

Pretending to go he turned and began to walk towards the door, Mr Bigglesworth crawling to position himself over his left shoulder to keep Taku in clear sight.

“Well I must be going, things to do, people to kill, the usual …..”

And with that he suddenly stopped and a look of concern, entirely feigned of course but appearing with the sort of reality only master of deception could achieve, he turned and for the first time since entering appeared to acknowledge Taku. By acknowledge, he mean't state intently at him with the sort of quiet disquieting gaze of man looking upon the condemned.

“Sorry to bother you Ibuki”

He said, his voice still warm but now concerned and inquiring

“This is somewhat embarrassing I must admit and a trifle nosy of me but I can’t help but notice you have some sort of repugnant growth on one side. Hmmm I wonder if it cancerous, perhaps we should ask it a few questions?”

The last word had all but dispensed with the warmth, his voice had turned from melodious to sharp, cold and uncompromising. When he spoke again it was the kage in judgement, emotionless

“Tell me Taku on scale of one to ten, one being rather dangerously foolhardy and ten being fatally stupid where does your return to Suna rate on the suicidal Nin scale? I am thinking were at a 8.5 at the moment but perhaps you can convince me otherwise”

Age : 37 Posts : 1136

(OOC: To stop this thread dying where it stands posting order is revised to Aaron, Cara, then Sen. We can assume Sen is carefully pondering what to reply to the glowering kage)

Age : 28 Posts : 2538

(OOC: Am I posting next, then?)